A San Mateo County Superior Court judge Thursday delayed for months the jury trial for a man charged with fatally shooting an East Palo Alto police officer in 2006, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

Prosecutors believe Alvarez killed May after the officer responded to reports of a fight at a restaurant. Alvarez was found a short time later, hiding in the area of Weeks Street and University Avenue, according to East Palo Alto police.

Alvarez has been charged in the case with first-degree murder with use of a firearm and the special circumstance of killing a police officer while in performance of duties, Wagstaffe said.

Alvarez is also charged with felony possession of a firearm by an ex-felon because he has two felonies, illegal possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm for sale, on his record.

A grand jury indicted Alvarez on Aug. 25, 2006, and the transcript from the jury was ordered sealed after defense attorneys argued that inflammatory material in the transcript could prejudice a jury, Wagstaffe said.

An attorney for the Mercury News had argued for the release of the transcript.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office in June announced that it would seek the death penalty if Alvarez is found guilty of “deliberate, premeditated murder,” Wagstaffe said.

A trial for the case was set to begin in December, but defense attorneys on Thursday requested an additional five months for trial preparation, according to Wagstaffe, who is prosecuting the case.

The seven adult children of David and Louise Turpin, the couple accused of abusing and imprisoning them for years at their Perris home, have been released from the hospital, their attorney said Monday.

The law and responding challenge set up a confrontation sought by abortion opponents, who are hoping federal courts will ultimately prohibit abortions before a fetus is viable. Current federal law does not.